The Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany was a state and national bank that became a subsidiary of the

Bank of New York The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Financ ...

in 1969.

History

The Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany was formed on July 29, 1811, as the third bank incorporated in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

by the

34th New York State Legislature The 34th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 29 to April 9, 1811, during the fourth year of Daniel D. Tompkins's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the ...

. Its first president was

Solomon Southwick Solomon Southwick (December 25, 1773 – November 18, 1839) was an American newspaper publisher and political figure who was a principal organizer of the Anti-Masonic Party. Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Southwick attended the University of Pe ...

, the newspaper publisher and political figure who was a principal organizer of the

Anti-Masonic Party The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry, but later aspired to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. After ...

. Among its early officers were

Gorham A. Worth Gorham A. Worth (1783 – April 3, 1856) was a president of Citigroup, City National Bank. Worth was born in Hudson, New York. His father Thomas Worth had been among the founders of the community. It is a common mistake, repeated here and ...

, who served as cashier (later becoming president of City National Bank). The bank's first charter expired in 1833 and the second charter expired in 1853, upon which the bank closed up its affairs and the stockholders received 115% besides their stock in the new bank, which renewed the charter for twenty years and went into operation again with the same officers. In 1834, president

Benjamin Knower Benjamin Knower (1775 Roxbury, now a borough of Boston, Massachusetts – August 23, 1839 Watervliet, Albany County, New York) was an American merchant, banker and politician. Early life By 1800 he had removed to Dutchess County, New York. Befor ...

, who had been president since 1817, was forced to resign because of "financial embarrassments." He was succeeded by Charles E. Dudley as president ''

pro tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

'' on February 3, 1834. until

Ezra Ames Ezra Ames (May 5, 1768 – February 23, 1836) was a popular portrait painter in Albany, New York, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. More than 700 portraits have been attributed to him. Life and career He was born in Framingham, Mas ...

was elected president in June 1834. In June 1836,

Thomas W. Olcott Thomas Worth Olcott (May 22, 1795 – March 23, 1880) was an American banker who served as president of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany, an institution he was connected with for 69 years. Early life Olcott was born on May 22, 1795, in H ...

became the fifth president of the bank. During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the bank closed up its affairs and organized in 1865 under the

National Bank Act The National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 were two United States federal banking acts that established a system of national banks, and created the United States National Banking System. They encouraged development of a national currency backed by ...

, having previously operated as a state bank. In 1868, the bank again was chartered under state banking laws, abandoning the national system. Between 1874 and 1875, the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank building, designed by

Russell Sturgis Russell Sturgis (; October 16, 1836 – February 11, 1909) was an American architect and art critic of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1870. Sturgis was born in Baltimore Cou ...

, was built at State and James Streets in Albany. Upon Olcott's 1880 death, he was succeeded as president by his son

Dudley Olcott Dudley Olcott (September 21, 1838 – December 28, 1919) was an American banker who served as President of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany. Early life Olcott was born on February 23, 1841, in Albany, New York. He was the eleventh and ...

. Dudley Olcott served as president until his death in 1919. Upon his death, he was succeeded by his nephew,

Robert Olcott The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in 1920. In 1943, the bank was admitted into the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

System almost simultaneously to the bank being covered by the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...

. At the time, it had total assets of about $7,500,000 and was run by Robert Olcott. In 1946, Robert Olcott retired as president, becoming chairman of the board. He was succeeded as president by his nephew, Douglas W. Olcott. In January 1952, the stockholders of the bank voted to increase capitalization from $250,000 to $500,000 and authorized a 100% stock dividend plus a ten-to-one stock split. In 1968, the bank agreed to join the proposed bank holding company being formed by the

and the County Trust Company of White Plains. At the time, the bank had assets of about $30,000,000. Under the plan, each share of Mechanics' and Farmers' would be exchanged for one quarter of a share in the holding company, plus $67.50 principal amount of 6 and a quarter per cent convertible debentures (which would be convertible into holding company common stock at the rate of one share for every $75 worth of debentures held). The holding company was created in 1969 and the bank became a subsidiary of the Bank of New York. Upon the reorganization, president Douglas W. Olcott retired as president of the bank. In 1971, the Bank of New York announced the merger of the Tanners National Bank of Catskill, N.Y. (which had assets of $10.4 million at the end of 1970), into the Mechanics and Farmers' Bank of Albany. In the merger, shareholders of Tanners received 2.75 shares of Bank of New York common for each Tanners share for a total of 41,250 Bank of New York shares.

List of presidents

(1811–1813) *

Isaac Hutton Isaac Hutton (before July 20, 1766 – 8 Sep 1855) was an American silversmith and engraver, active in Albany, New York. Hutton was born in New York City to George and Anna Viele Hutton, and on July 20, 1766, was baptized into the Dutch Reformed ...

(1813–1817) *

(1817–1834) * Charles E. Dudley (1834–1834; as president ''pro tem'') *

(1834–1836) *

(1836–1880) *

(1880–1919) *

(1920–1946) * Douglas W. Olcott (1946–1969) * Daniel W. Vooys (1970-)

Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings Bank

In 1855, the Mechanics' and Farmers' Savings Bank was incorporated with Thomas W. Olcott as the first president. Like the earlier bank, upon Olcott's 1880 death, his son Dudley became president. The Mechanics and Farmers Savings Bank, which merged with the Albany Exchange Savings Bank, becoming the Mechanics Exchange Savings Bank. In the 1970s, Mechanics Exchange was acquired by

Dime Savings Bank Dime Savings Bank may refer to: * Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh, Brooklyn * Dime Savings Bank of New York The Dime Savings Bank of New York, originally the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, was a bank headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. ...

, which was acquired by

Washington Mutual Washington Mutual (often abbreviated to WaMu) was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008. A savings bank holding company is defined in United States Code: Title 12: Banks and Banking; Section 1842: Def ...

in 2002.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

Mechanics and Farmers Bank (Albany, N.Y.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany Defunct banks of the United States BNY Mellon